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Friday, July 10, 2009

Protection Island Puffin Cruises

Have you ever seen a puffin? The Port Townsend Marine Science Center and Puget Sound Express offer Puffin Cruises every Saturday from now until August 8th.

From PTMSC.org: Protection Island, at the mouth of Discovery Bay, is a very special; place in the summer. Dry, brown and lonely, it looks like a most inhospitable place. But it is alive with thousands of nesting birds - rhinocerous auklets, glaucous-winged gulls, pigeon guillemots, double-crested and pelagic cormorants, black oystercatchers, and even a few pairs of tufted puffins. It is for a glimpse of the elusive tufted puffin that many visitors make the trip. As every birder knows, no guarantee can be made that they will be sighted on every outing, but chances are very good that they will be spotted especially on the south side of the island. Like rhinocerous auklets, for which Protection Island is the major nesting site, the puffin use burrows in the cliffs and uplands to raise one or sometimes two chicks. The chance to see them carrying many small fish at one time in their bills, or even swimming, flying, or diving, is exciting.

Reservations: Tickets are $55 per person ($50 for PTMSC, Audubon, BurkeMuseum or Washington Ornithological Society members) and child or group ratesmay be arranged. Proceeds go to support educational programs at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.